George Bell & Sons was a book

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

located in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, from 1839 to 1986.

History

George Bell & Sons was founded by George Bell as an educational bookseller, with the intention of selling the output of London university presses; but became best known as an independent publisher of

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. One of Bell's first investments in publishing was a series of ''Railway Companions''; that is, booklets of timetables and tourist guides. Within a year Bell's publishing business had outstripped his retail business, and he elected to move from his original offices into

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

. There G. Bell & Sons branched into the publication of books on art,

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

, in addition to the

for which the company was already known. Bell's reputation was only improved by his association with

Henry Cole Sir Henry Cole FRSA (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in the 19th century in the United Kingdom. Cole is credited with devising the concept of ...

. In the mid-1850s, Bell expanded again, printing the children's books of

Margaret Gatty Margaret Gatty ( Scott; 3 June 1809 – 4 October 1873) was an English children's author and writer on marine biology. In some writings she argues against Charles Darwin's ''Origin of Species''. She became a popular writer of tales for young pe ...

(''Parables from Nature'') and

Juliana Horatia Ewing Juliana Horatia Ewing (née Gatty, 3 August 1841 – 13 May 1885) was an English writer of children's stories. Her writings display a sympathetic insight into children's lives, an admiration for things military, and a strong religious faith. Li ...

(the ''Nursery Magazine''). Around the same time, in 1854, he acquired J. & J.J. Deighton, a bookseller's outfit in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, which thereupon changed its name to Deighton, Bell & Co. Then, in 1856, Bell brought on board as a partner Frederick Daldy, and renamed the company Bell & Daldy. With Daldy, Bell began to print more poetry collections, including the ''Aldine Edition of British Poets'' and the works of

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...

and

Robert Bridges Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was an English poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...

. To the firm's educational output was added

Webster's Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's ...

, after Bell acquired the British rights to Webster's work. Then, Bell & Daldy took over the libraries of

Henry George Bohn Henry George Bohn (4 January 179622 August 1884) was a British publisher. He is principally remembered for the ''Bohn's Libraries'' which he inaugurated. These were begun in 1846, targeted the mass market, and comprised editions of standard works ...

, a

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

publisher, and moved their operation to Bohn's former location.Weedon, A. ''Victorian Publishing: The Economics of Book Production for a Mass Market 1836-1916'' (2003) Ashgate. With such an extensive library available for publication, Bell's original retail location in Fleet Street was no longer necessary; the firm moved out of Fleet Street for good in 1867. Daldy left the firm (renamed George Bell & Sons) in 1873, to join the firm of Virtue, Spalding, & Daldy. In 1888, Bell left the piloting of the firm to his sons, Edward and

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor * Ernest, ...

, but maintained a healthy interest in its day-to-day operation until his death in 1890. In 1910 the firm became a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability ...

, George Bell & Sons, Ltd. In 1926 Edward Bell died; his son Arthur took his place on the board and became chairman himself in 1936. Other members of the board gradually took over the operation of the firm, until Arthur's death in 1968. In 1977, Robin Philip Hyman became the managing director of Bell & Hyman, Ltd., and the firm moved to Queen Elizabeth Street, London, where it remained until going out of business. In 1986, Bell & Hyman Ltd merged with

George Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

to form Unwin Hyman. Unwin Hyman was acquired by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

in 1990. George Bell's brother John also worked for the Bell firm; John managed the Chiswick Press until his death in 1885.

Addresses

*1839: 1 Bouverie Street *1840: 186

*1854: Acquired Deighton's offices at Green Street and Trinity Street,

*1864: Acquired 4 York Street,

. This location had quite a pedigree: The previous occupant of these houses was the publishing company of

; before that they had belonged to the bookseller J. H. Bohte, who specialized in classics; and before that (though not immediately before) they had been the home of

Thomas de Quincey Thomas Penson De Quincey (; 15 August 17858 December 1859) was an English writer, essayist, and literary critic, best known for his '' Confessions of an English Opium-Eater'' (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quinc ...

. *1867: Moved out of Fleet Street *1903: York House, 6 Portugal Street, WC2 designed for George Bell & Sons by Horace Field *1977: Denmark House, Queen Elizabeth Street

Selected publications

* Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener (1861) ''

A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament ''A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament: For the Use of Biblical Students'' is one of the books of Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener (1813–1891), biblical scholar and textual critic. In this book Scrivener listed over 3,0 ...

'' * W. H. Besant (1900) ''Elementary Hydrostatics'' * Irene Clyde (1909) '' Beatrice the Sixteenth'' *

Ralph Waldo Trine Ralph Waldo Trine (October 26, 1866 – November 8, 1958) was an American philosopher, author, and teacher. He wrote many books on the New Thought movement. Trine was a close friend of Henry Ford and had several conversations with him about s ...

(1911) ''In Tune With The Infinite'' *

Duncan Sommerville Duncan MacLaren Young Sommerville (1879–1934) was a Scottish mathematician and astronomer. He compiled a bibliography on non-Euclidean geometry and also wrote a leading textbook in that field. He also wrote ''Introduction to the Geometry of N ...

(1914) ''The Elements of Non-Euclidean Geometry'' * David Wooster - ''Alpine Plants''

Book series

* The Aldine Edition of the British Poets * Alpha Classics * Bell's Annotated English ClassicsPublishers and Series List
seriesofseries.owu.edu. Retrieved 18 March 2017. * Bell's Cathedral Series * Bell's English Classics * Bell's Handbooks to Continental Churches * Bell's Indian & Colonial Library * Bibliotheca Classica * Bohn's Libraries * Bohn's Popular Library * Classics of Scientific Method * Great Masters in Painting and Sculpture * The Great Public Schools * Life and Light Books * The Queen's Treasures Series.Display advertisement, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', 6 December 1908, p. 4. * York Library

References

External links

Archive of George Bell & Sons Ltd
in the collection of the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, George And Sons Book publishing companies based in London Publishing companies disestablished in 1986 Children's book publishers Companies based in the London Borough of Southwark Companies based in Cambridge Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Educational book publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1839